Last Hope
by Gloomy Shadows
Summary: A what-if story based on the game: Shadow the hedgehog. What if Shadow the hedgehog was not able to defeat Devil Doom? What if, like in battling The Finalhazard battle, he did not have the strength to defeat Devil Doom? One-shot.


_**A/N: A one-shot I have thought of a while ago while playing Shadow the hedgehog's final boss against Devil Doom for the first time. I had lost the first time I played because I never exactly knew the right controls. I had died and with all of what was happening, I began to think suddenly what would have happened if Shadow the hedgehog actually failed his mission to defeat Devil Doom and bring peace to Earth. I also felt like making a fan-fic with Black Doom/Doom's eye involved in it. Hope you enjoy!**_

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Shadow the hedgehog stared at his newly titled arch-nemesis as well as 'biological father', as they both floated in the air, staring at each other with hatred in their eyes. Nobody dared to move, speak or even breathe. Chaos energy swarmed around the hedgehog but all the same he could feel it depleting at the second. He attempted to straighten his ragged and beaten form, not wanting, no matter the cause, to appear weak to his enemy. His enemy could use such knowledge against him. The newly named Devil Doom stared at him in amusement.

Shadow hissed quietly as for just a second, but still visibly, his amber fur turned to that of an ebony shade. But it was back as quickly as it appeared. Shadow turned his head to look at a man-made building that structured behind him; the Space Colony ARK. It became years after development, his entrance to the life he was to carry on with to this day. His place of creation and 'birth' even if created. It had become his home. He remembered that Sonic and his friends had been there not too long ago. They had escaped but if Shadow was not to destroy this...monster standing before him, their escape would have been useless.

They were all counting on him. They were counting on _him_, not Sonic, but _him. _To fight for a planet that he not long ago hated and even secretly feared slightly, for they were the one's that caused the death of his apparent friend 'Maria'. He didn't care for them or anyone at the time. They could have all died for what he cared. But Devil Doom had - against his will- actually changed Shadow's opinion towards the planet. He was their only hope left. He was the only one that wasn't affected the slightest by the fog that was soon to be unleashed and used against their own free will. He wasn't paralyzed because of his cursed past, which lay one redeeming fact to be related to Black Doom. But even if he was their only hope, if the battle continued like this, they had bet an already lost one. One not to their favors and they would all would perish to the Black arm's control.

_"Shadow" _he heard Sonic's voice cry out all of a sudden. It took a while but Shadow noticed that the boy genius Tails must have made a communication device to speak to him even on the go. _"You're supposed to be... the ultimate life-form right? Well now the time... to prove it! I know you can do it Shadow!"_ Shadow blinked at that. Did the faker admit that Shadow was better then him? It was as hard as he would say the same thing to the faker back, so he must mean it. He nodded his head. Yes, this indeed was the time to prove such a thing.

Shadow looked back at Black Doom, or Devil Doom, and yelled out a battle cry of pure rage as he charged towards him.

"Your attempts of attacks are futile as of everything else the planet had to offer as a offense to hurt me. No matter. I shall finish this." Devil Doom bellowed as he blew fire towards the amber, golden hedgehog speeding towards his destination. The flames pushed him back and had exhausted him slightly.

_"SHADOW! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" _the voice of the blasted echidna called out. _"DODGE!"_ he roared. Shadow grunted but dodged the next blow of fire. How dare that echidna tell him what to do! No matter, he'd get him back. He then flung around Devil Doom with a sonic boom and went to the side which definitely had an eye. Devil Doom's only weakness.

_"Shadow!" _he heard Rouge yell out. "_Stop fighting for a moment and get some rings! You're running out!" _she reminded him. Shadow grunted but nodded his head as he searched for and found a few pairs of rings amongst a rock that Devil Doom had shot at him, to Devil Doom's stupidity. Shadow launched himself at the boulder and collected the rings. He felt the pressure of the speed of the rock start to penetrate through his powerful aura. Shadow grunted in slight pain as he powered up his defense.

_"Shadow! Please win Shadow! You're our only hope!" _he heard Amy Rose's voice ring out suddenly. Somehow those words gave him courage just as her words apparently encouraged him at the ARK once before. He jumped off the rock and onto a more calm, floating one.

_"Shadow! Watch out!" _cried the kitsune as Shadow instantly looked over his shoulder to see a new burst of fire head towards him. Shadow grunted and jumped off the rock as it exploded from impact. Shadow heaved heavily and grabbed a few more rings, his eyes never leaving the dangerous form in front of him.

Shadow grunted and held his hand behind his head as chaos energy sprang through it. Yelling 'chaos spear', a mass bit of energy slid through his arm and sprang out from his hand to hit Devil Doom in the eye. "Ragggghhh!" The latter yelled out but continued to be on guard.

_"Shadow, since this may as well be my last time speaking with you, I need to tell you something." _he heard the raspy voice that belonged to the doctor say. _"That thing I told you, about you being one of my robots...it was all a lie! You really are the real ultimate life-form my grandfather created. The day you 'died'... you never really died! I used one of my robots to save you when you were in Earth's atmosphere. Everybody thought you were dead, but I knew you weren't. I kept you in my base under suspended animation. You are the real Shadow, and only you can stop him!" _Shadow took his words to consideration. He felt cautious but he knew it was the truth. Somehow, the doctor had actually saved his life. Now he had to return the favor.

"So… I'm not an android. I am...the real me, Shadow the hedgehog." he stated, looking himself over then looked at Devil Doom."Your day's are finished Doom!" Shadow cried out as he swung rapidly chaos spears at his eye. The beast roared out and closed his eye. Shadow blinked at it. So that's what's actually happening. He thought that one eye opened in random order but no... They kept switching. His thoughts were interrupted by a hoard of flames that slammed into his body. He heard then after a few more moments' cruel irrupt from Devil Doom. He could see the cold, murderous amusement in his eyes. Devil Doom let out an evil cackle.

"You are too late Shadow. You cannot stop us now. The gas has now reached planet Earth and there's nothing you can do to stop us now! The black arms will reign supreme!"he roared, as Shadow became suddenly stiffened and still. His gaze intensified on the beast. He could hear nothing. No one silenced him to prove him wrong. No voice of Faker or one of his friends to give him fruitless advice. Just plain, dead, utter, silence...

"No..." Shadow whispered as more silence other then Devil Doom's sinister laughter filled his ears. "No!" he said more loudly. He grunted as he felt his eyes become moist for a strange reason, and felt something unknown to him slide down his cheeks, to land on one of his inhibitor rings... That was it! It was a final attempt to use but it was a good enough time than any now. He could feel his wavering power become to waver even faster. _'No choice.' _Shadow thought to himself. He subconscious traced his left hand over his right arm from shoulder-down until it met with a cold metal substance that was the ring itself.

Shadow pulled it off, followed by the other, and soon an aura of new power flushed over him. His eyes gazed intensely once again at Devil Doom. "I'm...I'm going to kill you. You're going to _PAY _for the lives you took from me. As well as the innocent lives you have taken from the humans." Shadow growl turned into a loud, angry battle cry as he rushed quickly to the eye of devil doom and preformed a chaos blast strong enough to kill a million black arm soldiers. Fog from some of Devil Doom's sizzled skin clouded and blinded the hedgehog. After the fog cleared, he saw the unimaginable. Devil Doom had blocked out the attack with his wings, which were the only things injured. The attack had taken all of his power he had left though.

Shadow's fur switched violently from ebony to amber and back in a repeating cycle. _'No...' _he thought as he fell down to a floating rock. He wearily gazed up, ashamed of the weakness showing in his eyes. He had failed Earth...he had failed Maria... _'And it's my fault._' he thought bitterly. _'All...mine...'_

"You thought you could stop me Shadow? That was all you had? That's pathetic. All I had to do was raise your ego and pride a little so you could use all of your energy up because you'd think you could win. Once again that is pathetic! Say good bye my son." he growled as he charged up an attack that would kill him instantly, even in his weak super form. Shadow growled quietly. _'I could have done something!' _he berated himself, only subconsciously paying attention to Devil Doom. _'But...I...no...It's too late.'_ Shadow looked up as he glared at the form of his father powering up; to of all people-kill his son.

"I'm no son of yours." he whispered. He didn't want to give Devil Doom the chance to kill him. He wanted him to know that he wasn't the one that killed his enemy. Shadow could feel the last bit's of ring energy he had left in himself spur out as he gave out a painful gasp, now feeling the pain stricken body he had gotten while not in super form made it hurt all the more. He weakly glanced up at Doom and smiled. "You may think you won. But you won a hollow victory. The best victory is one that you have _achieved_, _not_ that happened by karma." he rasped. Devil Doom shot him a look.

"I've already won this. Now I'm going to finish this. I'm going to finish you!" he hollered, but what he didn't notice was that in the exact moment Shadow lost all the power he had left. He, while resting, had obtained just a little amount of energy to perform one last Chaos Blast. He had already lost his former energy but at that moment he had lost the one his ring contained as well. His fur turned complete ebony and crimson as the effect wore off. He fell through the fog and clouds on a collision course towards Earth, one that he wouldn't survive. Devil Doom saw this and gave out a long, powerful, scream of rage for the fact that his son had tricked him, and now he will never be able to finish Shadow off himself. Shadow closed his eyes and breathed out one word, the last word he'd ever say before he hit the atmosphere, which he knew, would be the thing that killed him rather then colliding towards Earth.

"Maria..." he cried quietly as he disappeared forever in the clouds, never to be seen again. And then at the very moment, the Earth's last hope was never to be seen again.


End file.
